Month: September 2022

Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel whose investigation of former President Bill Clinton led to the second-ever impeachment trial in American history, has died at age 76. His family said in a statement that Starr died in Houston of complications from surgery.

Starr was best known for leading the investigation that ultimately led to the impeachment in which Clinton was acquitted. Starr was also a Reagan judicial appointee and Solicitor General under President George H.W. Bush. More recently, Starr joined the legal team defending former President Donald Trump in his first Senate impeachment trial in early 2020; Trump was acquitted on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of justice.

Starr served as president of Texas’ Baylor University from 2010 until 2016. Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone said in a statement: “Judge Starr was a dedicated public servant and ardent supporter of religious freedom that allows faith-based institutions such as Baylor to flourish. Ken and I served together as Deans at Pepperdine University in the 2000s, and I appreciated him as a Constitutional law scholar and a fellow academician who believed in the transformative power of higher education”

Randall P. Starr, Ken Starr’s son, said of his father: “The love, energy, endearing sense of humor, and fun-loving interest Dad exhibited to each of us was truly special, and we cherish the many wonderful memories we were able to experience with him. He is now with his Lord and Savior.” Starr will be buried at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.

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Republican Senator Lindsey Graham introduced legislation on Tuesday that would ban abortion after 15 weeks nationwide, with some exceptions. Graham said at a news conference: “I think we should have a law at the federal level that would say, after 15 weeks, no abortion on demand except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.”  The bill is unlikely to receive a vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate, but Graham said that if Republicans took back the House and Senate in the midterm elections, there would be a vote on his bill:  “Abortion is a contentious issue. Abortion is not banned in America. It is left up to elected officials in America to define the issue.” 

However, many Republicans attacked the bill as a distraction that divides the GOP and reminds voters that most of them see the party as too extreme on abortion. Republican leaders, rank-and-file lawmakers and political strategists are distancing themselves from Graham.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement: “President Biden and congressional Democrats are committed to restoring the protections of Roe vs. Wade in the face of continued radical steps by elected Republicans to put personal health care decisions in the hands of politicians instead of women and their doctors, threatening women’s health and lives.” The U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned Roe vs. Wade in June, eliminating the federally protected right to abortion procedures, causing multiple states to move quickly to criminalize it.

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